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Legislative Assembly 16527 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Tuesday 23 June 2009 __________ The Speaker (The Hon. George Richard Torbay) took the chair at 1.00 p.m. The Speaker read the Prayer and acknowledgement of country. AUDITOR-GENERAL'S REPORT The Speaker tabled, pursuant to section 38E of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, the performance audit report of the Auditor-General entitled "Tackling Cancer with Radiotherapy: NSW Department of Health", dated June 2009. Ordered to be printed. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE Notices of Motions General Business Notices of Motions (General Notices) given. General Business Notices of Motions (for Bills) given, by leave. PRIVATE MEMBERS' STATEMENTS Question—That private members' statements be noted—proposed. LIFE WITHOUT BARRIERS CALMING GARDEN Mr DAVID HARRIS (Wyong) [1.09 p.m.]: Life Without Barriers is a not-for-profit organisation with branches all over Australia. Its mission is to provide innovative, community-based support services to people with disabilities, mental illness or families in crisis. Today I speak about the wonderful work of the Life Without Barriers day program in Alison Road, Wyong, which supports young adults with disabilities. Sharon Spicer, the coordinator of the day program, is constantly working with the carers with great success to organise activities and courses for their clients. On 27 May I was honoured to attend the opening of one of these fantastic programs, the Calming Garden, which was constructed in the grounds of the centre. The opening ceremony celebrated the work of the 12 young adults and their carers who, over a 10-week period, worked together to create a wonderful garden. More than 70 people attended the opening ceremony; not even the rain on the day could dampen the pride and excitement of all the participants. The project was funded by a grant from New South Wales Adult and Community Education, and was applied for by Tuggerah Lakes Community College. Sharon Spicer spoke highly of Andrea Cinge and her team from Tuggerah Lakes Community College, and is grateful for their continuing association with her Life Without Barriers day program. In Sharon's words, "Such a wonderful garden could not have occurred without their support." The grant allowed Ian Sutton, a tutor from the college, to attend the day program once a week and work with the clients, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to develop the garden from scratch. The clients were not only taught the basics of planting, growing and caring for a variety of plants and vegetables; they were also instructed in occupational health and safety issues. One of the carers, Gail Santi, was impressed by how enthusiastic the clients were and commented that they are now keen to share their acquired knowledge and to demonstrate the correct way to hold or use the equipment. I will mention all the clients who were involved in making the garden and congratulate them on their great achievement. These are the names of the Barriers' Gang, as they nicknamed themselves. Congratulations to Kim Baldwin-Hayes, Nicole Bryant, Chayce Collins, Melissa Cooney, Damien Dunne, Raelene Doran, Brad Flannagan, Clinton Jones, Joel Newton, Deboraha Ward, Sarah White and Chris Williams. I had the pleasure of working with Damien Dunne and Chris Williams when I was the Deputy Principal at Northlakes Public School. 16528 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 23 June 2009 Damien and Chris were part of the special unit at that school. In those days they were 10 or 11 years old. It was great to see them now as young adults involving themselves in such a fantastic program. The program was particularly impressive because five of the clients achieved certificate I in conservation and land management at the end of the 10 weeks. The name of this course inspired the name chosen for the garden, the Calming Garden. I am reminded at this point of the Chinese proverb, "If you want to be happy for life, plant a garden." How great it is that these young adults have been given such a positive experience. Sharon Spicer commented that the clients have gone on to create their own gardens at home and are actively maintaining the centre's garden through ongoing programs. They are even using the produce from the vegetable section in their cooking activities. I was impressed with their scarecrow, which was of a high quality. I am sure it would have assisted in scaring away any vermin that tried to attack the garden. Damien, Chris and I had our photograph taken in front of the scarecrow; they had the biggest smiles on their faces that one would ever see. They also told me how they found the clothes to dress the scarecrow, which I will not detail here. They were very proud of their efforts. Sharon Spicer acknowledged the amazing support of all the parents, friends and representatives from Break Thru Employment Solutions, who also attended the opening ceremony, during which $300 was raised for Australia's Biggest Morning Tea. The benefits of this and other programs organised by Life Without Barriers are wide reaching and truly demonstrate the philosophy the organisation subscribes to: Positive, healthy relationships are essential for people in care to feel safe and have an opportunity to improve their lives. I congratulate Life Without Barriers day program and wish all the clients, workers and carers well in their future endeavours. May their garden continue to deliver for many years to come. KARONGA SCHOOL Mr GREG SMITH (Epping) [1.14 p.m.]: Karonga School at Epping, which serves the whole of Sydney, is a place with courageous teachers, staff and parents fighting for students with disabilities against all sorts of problems. Karonga School was originally started by a group of parents concerned about the inequity of no schooling for their children with multiple disabilities. The parents funded and built F block in 1967 on land given by the then Department of Education. The building was not built to any departmental building standards and was never designed to house students with severe physical disabilities or challenging behaviours, as it does now. In 1979 the department finally purchased the school buildings, including F block, having taken over responsibility for the delivery of education programs to the students in 1975. Problems with the maintenance of F block have been documented as far back as 1997. The layout and condition of the building are not meeting the needs of the students and staff. The building design and condition are resulting in an increased risk of accidents—it leaks like a sieve whenever it rains—loss of educational opportunities, physical development opportunities and personal dignity, and the building poses potential health risks. If an ordinary school building for students without disabilities was in such poor condition and as inadequate at providing for the needs of students it would have been fixed by the department years ago. Because Karonga is such a small school—it has only 64 students—the department continues to offer bandaid solutions at best. The current outstanding maintenance issues include subsiding floors; inadequate and failing roof guttering and downpipe systems; replacement of fabricated beam delaminating; external electrical wiring not in conduits; water flowing through light fittings whenever it rains; damage in classrooms from rainwater and smelly carpets as they dry out; uninhabitable visual auditory tactile sensory room due to water damage and ongoing damp problems; damp problems in two rooms, practically uninhabitable, as a result of significant rain damage; rotting wooden window frames; and doors too heavy for door frames, requiring replacement of all doors or all frames. F block has had three new roofs over the past 10 years, and another is required now. Maintenance expenditure is about $10,000 per year from the general school fund, predominantly due to significant maintenance issues inadequately addressed. There are design problems. The classrooms are too small for the multiple equipment needs of students with mobility problems. There are no appropriate storage areas for student equipment. The classroom size increases the risk of injuries to students with challenging behaviours. There are no suitable time-out areas for students with challenging behaviours. I have been to the school and I have seen a number of students who have challenging behaviours. The building's winding corridor increases the risk of injury when directing students with mobility difficulties and students with challenging behaviours. The bathroom areas are too small for effective management of students with mobility issues. The bathroom size and layout provide no privacy for students, resulting in a loss of personal dignity. There is extensive glass in classrooms, which is distracting to 23 June 2009 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 16529 students and reduces their educational outcomes. The school's parents and citizens association is appalled that history is repeating itself and children with multiple disabilities are again being disadvantaged because of the New South Wales Labor Government's lack of desire to support and nurture them as it does students in mainstream schools. The parents and citizens association maintains that the Department of Education and Training needs to take action immediately. The department should rapidly commence a new purpose-built building, as it has done at other special schools, or provide an alternative comprehensive solution. The school has had visits from all the top Labor politicians. Maxine McKew and the Prime Minister's wife, Therese Rein, visited the school recently, as did the Minister for Education and Training. With all this talk of money being given to schools by the Federal Government, Karonga received only $850,000. However, it needs $3 million for a new building. These children have multiple, severe disabilities. They probably should not be at the school. Fifteen buses are required to take them to and from the school each day.
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